Newsletter

Posted September 29, 2012 12:04 am

Lubbock Faith Bulletin Board

Second Baptist

“... I was a guest alongside Imam Sarner Altaaba on Fox Talk 950, a local morning radio talk show. Were were invited on to discuss the need for increased Muslim-Christian relations in the wake of the violent Middle East uprisings which ended in the murders of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya ...

“The imam has condemned the embassy attacks and similar acts of violence. Like most Muslims, he is a person of peace and goodwill. Unfortunately, religious extremists and political opportunists overshadow the vast majority of Muslims. I hoped the interview would help Lubbock hear another voice.

“In our conversation I spoke about a man named Krister Stendahl, a Lutheran priest who served as Dean of Harvard Divinity School and did much to promote inter-religious dialogue last century. Stendahl said that when we enter into conversations with people of other faiths we should follow three principles.

“1. We should listen to them directly — not to their enemies.

“2. We should not compare our own religion’s best to the others’ worst. This would help us come to terms with the fact that all religions have their good and their bad, their exemplars and their extremists.

“3. We should seek what Stendahl called ‘Holy Envy.’ By this he meant we should look to others’ religious devotion and practices and seek to find in them what might inspire our own.

“That conversation with the imam went well. We told stories of our own friendship and spoke of ways our two communities have remained open to each other in these turbulent times. At the conclusion of the interview I talked about losing Ambassador Stevens and our need to honor his sacrifice by seeking to be ambassadors of goodwill ourselves. For with half of humanity being either Christian or Muslim, the fate of the world depends upon it.”

“Ryon’s Reflections,” by Senior Pastor Ryon Price, Second Baptist Church

St. John Neumann

“Putting others first is one of the greatest challenges in a world that places so much emphasis on being powerful. Americans, for the most part, pride themselves on being a “super-power.” Power, in and of itself, is not the problem. What can become problematic is the way that power is used. Our example of the perfect use of power, of course, is the Lord Jesus himself. Fully human and fully divine, the Lord put all the power that had been given to him at the service of others. Unfortunately, when one hears comments such as “he is a very powerful man” or “it is a very powerful country,” one usually thinks of people or countries that use power to place themselves above apparently weaker people or places. The Gospel is a challenge to turn this notion on its head. We have each been given much power—the power flowing from Christ — in our baptism. Today we are called to use this power to place the needs of others before our own.”